Full disclosure…I’ve never actually watched the Netflix show ‘Tidying Up With Marie Kondo’, but I have watched a video or two, or three….or more on Youtube. Marie Kondo is a Japanese woman, who along with her interpreter, helps spark joy to the world by cleaning…her words, not mine. Maybe you’ve seen the show or read her book (The life-changing magic of tidying up) about reducing clutter (KonMari Method) in your life and the ‘joy’ it will bring you once you’ve managed to get through it all. The process is really simple when you think about it…she goes in order by category rather than by location for clutter reduction.
- Clothing
- Books
- Paper
- Komono (includes kitchen, bathroom, garage and miscellaneous
- Sentimental Items (this is the tough one)
I’m somewhat of a minimalist (just somewhat) so I don’t have a ton of clutter or clothes or books or of really anything, so reducing clutter in my house is a pretty simple task.
Step 1: Put ALL your clothes into one big pile. Yes, all of your clothes. This can be somewhat of a shock when you see the huge pile of clothes from your closets all together in one small space, and that’s the idea. Ask yourself with each piece of clothing…does this bring me ‘joy’ and do you want to take it into your future? I now have 37 empty hangers that were at one time holding a shirt that I just didn’t need any longer, and my t-shirts (also reduced in number), shorts, socks, underwear, and jeans are all now folded the KonMari way and placed neatly in my drawers. When folded this way you can see each and every piece of clothing instead of having them stacked on one another and not being able to see what you have.
Books in my house, I’m embarrassed to say, are minimal…but finally starting to increase. It’s always a good thing to sit and read a book, a lesson I’m learning.
Every time I open my drawers or look into my closet now, I smile because of the order and being able to see everything simply and easily. How long will it last? Hard to tell, but it’s difficult to argue against the process. Onward to the next category!
